the u.s. pledges a switch to a supporting position in afghanistan by spring with the military possibly maintaining that role long pause the twenty four thousand withdrawal date. the french military help small these forces clear militants from the town of qana by launching airstrikes on the area one french pilot is killed during the operation. and a major in the u.k. in local clothes manufacturers call on the prime minister and top brass by british .

it's your pm here in moscow you live with us here on archie it's good to have you with us this afternoon president obama says that u.s. forces will and most combat operations in afghanistan by spring and switched to a support role that's the outcome of a meeting between president and afghan leader hamid karzai and was told to be the final chapter of america's military presence in the country but as you can reports of the u.s. troops could remain in afghanistan well beyond twenty fourteen. during his election campaign president obama may have sounded very resolute to leave afghanistan in two thousand and fourteen but the white house is now negotiating terms to stay there the president said if u.s. forces stayed their role will be different but critics argue it's an attempt to rebrand a military presence which both the majority of americans and afghans

a pope's want to listen to what president obama said about the mission after twenty fourteen i think. you know although obviously we're still. two years away. i can say with assurance that this is a very different mission and a very different task and a very different one. for the us if we're able to come to an appropriate agreement now one of the key points of the agreement that the president mentioned there keep point probably is immunity from prosecution for u.s. troops so that the afghans cannot prosecute any american soldier if they commit a crime that's the deal that the white house couldn't get from the iraqi government the u.s. wanted to keep some troops there but couldn't because of how we opposed the iraqis were to allowing the u.s. to further operate there with impunity but with homemade karzai it could be different he indicated that he is willing to give that immunity that he's willing to bargain besides he knows that he's in power because of the americans and many

experts believe his government will collapse in no time after americans leave but whatever post twenty fourteen deal comes out of their negotiations it might not be easy for washington to sell it to the american people because despite the administration trying to present of ghana's that is a success story in many ways they see it as a failure and don't understand why their troops should stay any further policymakers in washington can't really come out and say that they don't want to walk away and just just pack up and leave from such an important geopolitical position now that they've spent billions and billions of dollars to have a presence there but such chill political calculations may not sound very appealing to the american people at a time when the country's head over heels in debt is by pleasures that u.s. troops in afghanistan will switch to a mandisa paul drole so his benefits from washington bay's institute for policy studies believes it's still a long way off before local forces will take full control. we're talking about an

official acknowledgement by the two governments that now the afghan military is in control what that means is anybody's guess but what it does not mean is that the u.s. troops are going to be pulled out early there's a huge occupation force in the country that's not going to be brought out in twenty sir teen in the spring what we're talking about is a claim that as of that time the afghan people the afghan military the afghan government will officially be in charge they will be in charge of the military now the idea that the u.s. forces still there or the nato forces still there are going to take their orders from the afghan military i think is rather spurious that's certainly not going to happen i don't think the afghan government has the capacity to survive without massive u.s. support that means both economic support and crucially military support but his reliance on that support leads to one massive corruption which is widely hated

throughout the country karzai has very little public support in the country and militarily his his very large army isn't capable of standing up to the other militias it's one more militia the u.s. leaving will leave his government and his own position in a very and in a very precarious moment and he may well not survive that politically. with critics dumping america's promise to withdraw troops from afghanistan our g.'s a resident our people in new york what they think of the pull out and the campaign . the reason we're over here is because of the wonderful. it's all about money reaction to america's afghan mission from the streets of the big apple that's coming your way later in the program. government forces have driven out al qaeda linked militants from mali strategic town of qana with the help of french air strikes on the area where the country's

defense minister says a french pilot has been killed during that military operation president francois hollande earlier pledge military support in the west african nation for as long as necessary the u.n. has also agreed to speed up the deployment of an african led force to the country islamist religions are looking to enforce a stricter sharia law in the region sparking fears it could become an al qaeda stronghold and eventually be used to threaten the euro steinberg senior editor of executive intelligence review says the crisis in mali is a result of the collapse of the gadhafi regime something which france itself helped instigate. there's definitely an element of falling back on an old colonial controller molly was given its independence in one thousand nine hundred sixty but is still part of the francophone region of africa the rebel operations in northern mali have existed for quite some time but it was only in the aftermath of the

overthrow of the khadafi government in libya which was promoted by france britain and the united states in particular really double crossing china and russia at the un security council for regime change it was only after that that you had a massive flow of weapons out of libya into the hands of the rebels which basically took a low intensity conflict and threw it into a much greater crisis where the rebels outgunned the mali an army and so suddenly as the result of one badly flawed regime change policy in libya we have instability spreading to many parts of the african continent and beyond so it's a kind of a supreme irony that the french are being asked to come in and clean up

a mess that they themselves helped create the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said stopping iran from building nuclear weapons will be his top priority if he wins the upcoming election despite a run denying the allegations and viewed as a major threat in israel and as artie's policy reports many israelis are already preparing for war. mushroom clouds confusion hysteria this is israel's last day according to a young filmmaker who wants to shock his country into taking action i've created to share my thoughts and my feelings with the world. about the potential threat that is coming from iran if you ask me the same question two years ago i will say that people don't think about it so much but today it is different we can see that the majority here of israel are preparing this so i think most mentally

grandparents are holocaust survivors from a mania a foreshadow he fears of what could come it took hitler six serious to kill six million jews and it will take. only six minutes that's why i made this movie maybe as wade's already uneasy fearing iran might be building a nuclear bomb and tehran isn't mincing its words threatening tel aviv it will teach it a listen if it tries to attack first warning is we need missiles will make sure israel does not survive the center of israel is a problem and that's where we have to move forward not only that we haven't got enough voters it's very very populated so everything that is falling in this area can cause casualties. in two thousand and six during the second lebanon war rachel balmer ors and her family hid here from the katyusha rockets raining down from across the border she never imagined she'd be restocking her shelter again so soon

and for potentially more deadly consequences of course i'm afraid from the war from with iran because nobody wants war and peace and now i have also some rain children five grandchildren and i'm afraid i'm afraid because my cells will go to the army there are soldiers in the. i don't want it the recent war with gaza was a chance for tel aviv to test its iron dome missile defense system but israelis are anxious in part because of widespread media coverage of just how unprepared for war the country has many bomb shelters and residential buildings are rundown and neglected or have become furniture storage rooms while most of israel's arab citizens about to twenty percent of the population lack shelters altogether as the chances of war start looking all too real the army says four times as many israelis

are collecting the state funded gas masks when they were several months ago i am a big concern it's not like i think they're going to be a worry. just. the side my fear just in case and with impending doomsday predictions circling the country no one wants to be caught unprepared police fear our t.v. television. so you can no solution to the syrian conflict the un's peace envoy says a military on camp will not lead the country out of a civil war while rebel extremists why does claim more strategic gains in syria's north. it's easier said than done bridges m.p.'s r.'s should dress in the only ones been made in the u.k. we'll bring you those reports after the break.

well. sorry it's technology innovation all these developments from around russia we've got the future covered. she could leverage surely to mccurry was able to build a new most sophisticated robot which will unfortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tim's mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans and. this is why you should care only. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. giant corporations are the day.

my. color again you're watching our team the u.n. and arab league peace envoy for syria says they can be no military solution to the conflict which was top diplomats from moscow and washington laughter brahimi has regenerated the need for more diplomacy to end the violence this has a some fifty countries like a call for the u.n. to refer the situation in syria to the international criminal court a move could open the way for plans prosecutions for the security council to consider the appeal later meanwhile syrian activists say islamic militants have seized a strategic air base in the north capturing ammunition and military equipment washington is weighing how to secure syria's chemical weapons that could fall into the hands of extremists u.s. amytal east experts also say of the countries you raney of stockpiles could be at

risk reports claim damascus has up to fifty tons of an enriched uranium political analyst or monash western states present only one side of the conflict. there's a lot of noise about it there was a bombing in two thousand and seven the israeli jets bombed the site in syria claiming that it is a nuclear site there was no indication yes the i.a.e.a. visited the site the i.a.e.a. said that there were traces of your a norm of depleted uranium but they did not confirm that there was any quantity or at least you know this huge quantity that is being publicized i mean they're saying fifty tons of uranium this is this is i don't know where they come up with a number. i did some research and it appears that they came up with a number because they they feel they are coming up with the story that this site that was there that was bombed in two thousand and seven would actually require fifty tons that doesn't mean that the syrians actually have fifty tons and that

doesn't mean that the site is actually for a nuclear program the syrian central government was able to control more than. six months there's an advance of the syrian army and the syrian official police and they are controlling most of the country there are only some areas in the countryside where rebel fighters are in some areas in the countryside where the syrian army withdrew from these areas because they thought that these areas were not important strategically but overall this is central government under the leadership of president assad controls most of the syrian territory obviously it's difficult because there are many fighters infiltrating from outside syria there are many a lot of money being infiltrated being pumped into syria to these rebel groups by neighboring country especially by by turkey by qatar by other european and by the united states there is a sponsorship of these terror groups. so mail weather is becoming the new norm for the u.s. that's according to a draft of the country's national climate assessment released on friday with

a flickering electrical grid crumbling roads and bridges america's infrastructure appears unprepared for what mother nature can throw at it in about my reports now on what's being done to address the problem over the past decade america has spent hundreds of billions in the name of national security wars military intervention fighting terrorist and hunting online hackers meantime getting much less attention is a domestic danger lurking in and lighting up every corner of the country the u.s. power grid in recent months federal officials have warned that america's electric cables substations and transformers are not sufficiently secured and are vulnerable to attack by anyone with a weapon and some basic know how experts say the energy grid is also outdated and antiquated unable to prevent outages from cascading in october superstorm sandy hit

twenty four states causing some sixty three billion dollars in damage more than four and a half million people lost power and new york was left crippled by massive floods leaving much of the city including half of the big apple plunged into darkness. two months after the storm the streets of downtown manhattan remain clogged with coops wires and heavy equipment because dozens of the city's iconic skyscrapers still rely on generators for power things like this going chum on sweet nature buildings dock. that does not occur in hong kong in shanghai. because they have built systems designed to deal with the reality of nature so what is this kind corners feeling to invest in you know most of you reckon economy when it comes to america's electricity ninety percent of the grid is privately owned by

utility companies beholden to investors. energy sector in the united states is law actually. operated and took her. there were only by regulation only the federal government meant that law it regulation state and local governments though it possible to call. the grid to gather that he is saying there are many reasons not only financial and also policy reasons really changes have to come about if we want to change our safety and our livelihood the changes aren't just limited to the grid engineers have warned that many of america's bridges roads dams levees and power plants are

in danger of crumbling if not repaired especially as sea levels continue rising even one bomb has nothing compared to what hurricane sandy did across the northeast a thousand miles of destruction there was a very very big natural event. you know. congress not funding the. repair of the basically infrastructure. is just staggering. a broken foundation that risks the chance of becoming the nation's biggest homegrown danger marina portnoy r.t. new york. on line team is working twenty four seven to provide you with the latest stories and pictures on a website some of them public health emergency in the u.s. as a country is gripped by the deadliest from the outbreak in a decade in more than a dozen people and leaving thousands struggling to fight off the illness. and also

while you're online now with his recently granted russian passport in hand french actor gerard depardieu gets another invitation this time to join the country's communist party. and now to some other news making headlines around the globe at this hour there are conflicts being reported over the fate of a french intelligence agent following a botched rescue operation by the country's special forces in somalia francis says that demi alex who was held hostage has been killed during a shootout with insurgents the country's defense minister stated that one soldier was also killed while another is missing al qaeda linked militants meanwhile claim that the agent is alive and that they have captured another soldier. in pakistan leaders of the shia minority have refused to bury the bodies of more than one hundred victims killed in a series of sectarian bombings on thursday the shia leaders are protesting over

a lack of security in the country three days of mourning where declared following the attacks among the deadliest carried out by sunni extremists shia muslims are a minority in pakistan and have been the target of a recent surge in violence. thousands of crews of from across europe are protesting against the assassination of three kluge female activists shot in the head on thursday among the victims was a co-founder of the stand workers' party the p.k. k. was struggling for independence from turkey turkish prime minister de better ones there earlier the murders appears to be the result of an internal feud three thousand people have so far been killed in the decades long conflict between turkey and the kurdish minority. overnight writing has again hit the city of belfast in northern ireland a bus was torsion police use rubber bullets and water cannons to try and disperse

the crowds at least four officers were injured in the clash probate is loyal as a block to dozens of roads during rush hour causing traffic disrupt littering the cells and petrol bombs tension has been boiling for what than a month after the city council decided to fly the union flag in front of the city hall for only eighteen days in the. u.k. clothing manufacturers are calling on the prime minister and cabinet to buy british they say the industry needs a boost to read growing tension between firms as selling real u.k. made clothes and those just using the union jack as a label but as artie's law as with reports from london it appears hard to find an outfit not made overseas. it's got the british flag on it but all these clothes made in britain a quick look at the label shows they're not made in china or made in vietnam anywhere but here and down on the high street the stories no different you'd be

hard pushed to find anything with a made in britain label on it in any shop a recent survey by a daily mail journalist found just one item in sixty three with a british made label but now david cameron and his ministers are being urged to back british from their hats to their socks and wear only british made clothes it's not impossible there are companies that still make clothes in the u.k. including the firm that's doing the urging private white b. c. but the vast majority of what we were ninety percent at the last count and including everything i'm wearing today is made abroad since two thousand and fifty two percent of jobs in the textile industry have disappeared and we imported twelve and a half billion pounds worth more clothing than we export it last year even some companies that trade on their very british north don't manufacture here so even if david

cameron and his colleagues did pledge only to buy british it's unlikely to revive britain's ailing textile industry as stars rise about america's promise of a military spring clean in the afghanistan are his very own resident of to the streets of new york to find out what people think about the u.s. as long lasting operation. the obama administration has recently said that it's considering having no troops in afghanistan after december of two thousand and fourteen is that a good thing a bad thing or totally made up thing designed for political shenanigans this week let's talk about bet do you even think he's going to do it he said that to years ago and it didn't happen so i don't buy it so why does he keep saying it if he

doesn't mean it. to get people to like it their families will be happy with hopefully you know you finish what you started what did we start and what do we have to finish what is finishing mean i guess to capture or. do you think that we've defined what and means it's tough because you know we don't know everything i think we need to have a world presence to maintain the why is it up to us to maintain a world presence why don't we just get out of everyone's business well that's a good idea too but if no if we don't do it nobody will and otherwise the world's going to go to war and we were in his stabilizing factor and until now and time it's been us but we're the ones causing all the wars. depends on your perspective i guess i'm sort board more defending than attacking my opinion is the reason we are over there is because of the wonderful oil i don't have it's all about money and.

that the marine is someone who puts your life on the line doesn't that make you mad it makes me really upset because we have a lot of marines that are dying each and every day in afghanistan you know and you know for god's sakes i can be next you know so it does make me pretty upset that he's promising something that he's not only not to the bottom line is we're so used to having us troops all over the world up in everyone's business that we probably can't imagine us pulling out of anywhere and that makes americans the world's bullies whether we like it or not. after the break every mountain gives us her take on the washington's plans will they have janice on mission in breaking this that.

you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so for langley you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm john harvey welcome to the big picture.

if you live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous i'm glad i got so many i mean. i know that i'm still the same thing really messed up. in the old story so personally apologize it's. worse for the little thing the white house or for the. radio guy and for the daily minestrone. what what we're about to give you've never seen anything like this i'm told.

you know it's friday before you turn to fun and games keep watching there's a few things that you should know today president obama's announcement that u.s. troops in afghanistan will assume a quote support role starting this spring and eventual pullout of all american forces by the end of twenty fourteen. you know what they say it sounds like a lie and looks like a lie then probably is a lie and joint press conference with afghan president hamid karzai obama said this . sovereign afghanistan where afghans spine security peace prosperity and dignity and in pursuit of that future afghanistan will have a long term partner in the united states with. the long term partner india because the war is far from over you see this invasion was never about a victory of upgrading the country no.